Apple now finds itself being challenged in China, the country where most of its devices are assembled, by a billionaire named Lei Jun who is positioning himself as an acolyte of Steve Jobs.

He isn't doing so without any justification, however. According to this profile in The New York Times, the Chinese media have nicknamed his company the "Apple of the East."

Like Steve Jobs, Lei has a tendency to make exaggerated statements about what his company is doing. Here's what he told the New York Times:

We’re making the mobile phone like the PC, and this is a totally new idea. We’re doing things other companies haven’t done before.

Of course, like Jobs, Lei has a penchant for making money. No company has ever generated $1 billion in revenue in China faster than Xiaomi. Last year alone, the company generated $2 billion in revenue by selling seven million smartphones, and it expects to double that this year, according to the profile